The film version of The DaVinci Code is released in the UK in May 2006
It is based on the book of the same name by American author Dan Brown.
The prequel to the book is called Angels and Demons, and the sequel will
be The Solomon Key.

The Da Vinci Code opens with a late-night visit by the police to Robert Langdon,
a professor of religious symbology from Harvard University. The curator of the
Louvre (Jacques Saunière) has been found dead in the museum's Grand Gallery:
his naked body has been arranged in a strange position, a sign is found marked
on his body using his own blood, and a cryptic message is found next to the body.
Langdon is suspected as the murderer and goes on the run. He is helped by the
dead man's grand-daughter Sophie. They try to discover the secrets the curator
was trying to protect, which both the Vatican and Opus Dei (a conservative Catholic
group) want to keep hidden.

The following are the main characters in the story:
- Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks): an American professor of religious symbolism,
from Harvard University
- Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou): a French cryptologist, the grand-daughter
of the murdered curator of the Louvre (Jacques Saunière)
- Sir Leigh Teabing (Sir Ian McKellen): an eccentric English historian
with specialist knowledge of the Holy Grail
- Captain Bézu Fache (Jean Reno): the French police chief who hunts
Langdon
- Silas (Paul Bettany): a fanatical supporter of the religious sect Opus
Dei

Tom Hanks, an American actor from California, plays the lead character
Robert Langdon. Some of the other films in which he has starred are Sleepless
in Seattle (1993), Forrest Gump (1994) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). For a list
of his other performances, see: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000158

Audrey Tautou is a French actress who plays Sophie Neveu. Her best-known
performances in the UK are in the films Amelie (2001) and Dirty Pretty Things
(2002). For a list of her performances, see: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0851582

Sir Ian McKellen plays Sir Leigh Teabing. His best-known as Gandalf in
the Lord of the Rings films, and as a Shakespearean actor. For a list of his performances,
see: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005212

Detail from "The Last Supper" fresco by Leonardo da Vinci
(the book claims that sitting next to Jesus is Mary Magdalene, not Peter)

Mona Lisa

The following vocabulary may be helpful to understand the film:
brethren (brothers, especially in a religious group) ; curator (a person in charge
of a museum) ; self-flagellation (hitting yourself with a whip) ; cryptologist
(an expert at studying secret codes) ; fleur-de-lis (a symbol showing a flower
with three parts joined at the bottom) ; keystone (the middle stone in an arch)
; papyrus (a type of paper used in ancient times by the Egyptians) ; chalice (a
cup) ; riddle (a word puzzle) ; cilice (a metal chain with spikes) ; to inter
(to bury) ; orb (a spherically-shaped object) ; catatonic (a body that is stiff
and nearly dead) ; an effigy (a representation of someone) ; a ritual (a fixed
ceremony which is repeated); "sang" is French for "blood"
; a descendant (a person who is related to someone and lives afterwards)

You can use the following links to find out more about some of the people, events,
objects and organisations mentioned in the film:

The Fibonacci series starts 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 ...
The next number in the series is the total of the previous two numbers (0+1=1,
1+1=2, 1+2=3, 2+3=5 etc)
The numbers occur in nature and are used in computing

An anagram is a rearrangement of letters to form another word or phrase.
For example, the word STUNTED is an anagram of the word STUDENT.
Two of the puzzles in the film are anagrams.

The questions asked by Sir Leigh Teabing test Langdon's knowledge of English traditions.
Lemon, not milk, is usually added to Earl Grey tea.Henley is an English town best known for its Royal Regatta, a series of
rowing races: http://www.hrr.co.uk

The film was shot mainly in the UK and France. Some of the locations in the story
are listed below:

London

- The plane arrives at Biggin Hill airport in London (this is used for
business jets and for air shows)
- Temple Church (nearest Tube: Temple; http://www.templechurch.com)
was built by the Knights Templar in 1185. Sir Leigh Teabing, Robert Langdon and
Sophie Neveu enter this church looking for the missing orb that might reveal the
location of the Holy Grail.
- Westminster Abbey (nearest Tube: Westminster: http://www.westminster-abbey.org)
contains the tomb of Isaac Newton, the famous English mathematician who is said
to have been inspired to discover gravity by seeing an apple falling from a tree.

Knights Templar symbol
outside Temple Church

Westminster Abbey:
contains Isaac Newton's tomb

The National Gallery: here you can see the painting
"Virgin of the Rocks" by Leonardo DaVinci

- Rosslyn Chapel, Midlothian (http://www.rosslynchapel.org.uk):
a 15th century chapel south of Edinburgh (the capital of Scotland), built by a
knight, which contains many symbolic carvings. It is rumoured to have contained
the Holy Grail.

France

- Chateau de Villette (http://www.chateau-de-villette.fr):
Sir Leigh Teabing's home (a country estate north-west of Paris)
- In the story the flight leaves from Le Bourget airport, near Paris (this
airport is now only used for business jets and for air shows). The film used the
terminal building and tower at Shoreham airport in Sussex

Paris

- Louvre Museum (nearest Metro: Palais Royal Musee du Louvre, lines 1 or
7; http://www.louvre.fr): in
the story Jacques Saunière is found dead in the Grand Gallery here. Da
Vinci's Mona Lisa can be seen in the Denon wing. The pyramid entrances to the
museum also play an important part in the story.
- Saint Sulpice church (nearest Metro: Saint-Sulpice, line 4): See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Sulpice_(Paris).
The copper line across the floor in this church marks the first prime meridian
(called the Rose Line in the book and film) - the international prime meridian
was later chosen to be Greenwich
(London).
- Ritz Hotel, Place Vendome (nearest Metro: Opera, lines 3, 7 or 8; http://www.ritzparis.com):
the elegant hotel where Langdon stays
- Bois de Boulogne: park through which the taxi passes when Langdon tells
Sophie about the Priory of Sion brotherhood (on the west side of Paris)

Louvre Museum, Paris

Inverted pyramid

Astronomical gnomon in Saint Sulpice

The line on the floor marked the first prime meridian.
This ellipse is where the sun's rays fell on each equinox.